By Dipo Olowookere
A total of N40.8 billion was realized as gross earnings in the first six months of 2019, compared with N32 billion achieved in the first six months of 2018, the financial statements of Wema Bank Plc have revealed.
The board, which released the financial status of the company on Friday, stated that the net interest income posted by the firm was N11.9 billion in contrast to N9.1 billion in the corresponding period of last year.
This included the N32.9 billion recorded as interest income versus N25.4 billion in H1 2018, and an interest expense of N21 billion in H1 2019 against N16.3 billion in the same time of 2018.
According to the lender, it made N3.8 billion under net fee and commission in the first half of this year, more than N3 billion recorded in the first half of last year, with the net trading income rising to N3.7 billion from N3.4 billion and the operating income appreciating to N19 billion from N15.4 billion.
In the period under consideration, the personnel expenses increased to N6.6 billion from N5 billion, while other operating expenses swallowed N8.4 billion in H1 2019 against N7.3 billion in H1 2018.
As indicated in the financial results, the profit before tax of the national bank grew to N2.6 billion from N1.8 billion, while the profit after tax went up to N2.3 billion from N1.6 billion.
Business Post gathered from the financial statements that the customer deposit significantly increased in the period under review to N446.1 billion from N354.9 billion in H1 2018 and N369.2 billion in FY 2018.
It further said loans and advances to customers increased to N281 billion in the period under review from 223.4 billion in the same period of last year.
Adedapo Adesanya